Lawrence Dallaglio stands out as one of England’s most decorated Rugby players, whose leadership and assertiveness on the pitch has rarely been matched.
With a glittering career, in which he earnt 85 England caps, five Premiership titles, three League Cups, three European trophies and one historic World Cup win, he is widely considered an all time great of the sport.
But, while the towering 6ft 4in forward largely made headlines for his positive impact on the pitch, it was his behaviour off it that more often landed him in hot water.
And with the news of the former England captain’s split with his wife of almost 20 years, Alice, Dallaglio’s previous controversies have once again come to the fore.
The couple, who married in 2005 after dating for almost 10 years, have both been accused of cheating throughout their time together.
It was revealed in 2003 that former model Alice had been Lawrence’s property developer friend Leon Butler, which saw them split up before eventually reconciling.
Their marriage came under the spotlight once again in 2020, when a court heard Dallaglio spent £10,000 at a London brothel which offered high-class hookers and cocaine, with it claimed he used his own bank cards to make the payments.
It was one of several controversies to overshadow Dallaglio’s playing career, one which cost him the captaincy in 1999 when he was accused of being a dealer and user of hard drugs – claims which he ‘categorically denied’ at the time.
Lawrence Dallaglio, the England captain raises the Calcutta Cup after winning the RBS Six Nations in 2004
Lawrence Dallaglio at a press conference to explain his reasons for resigning the England rugby union team captaincy in 1999
Lawrence Dallaglio and wife Alice arrive for the International Rugby Board Awards at Wharf 8 on November 23, 2003
Dallaglio earned his first cap for England in 1995 when he came on as a substitute against the Springboks. Two years later he was handed the England captaincy by head coach Clive Woodward.
But it was only another two years on that he resigned from the role following his involvement in a drugs scandal in 1999 instigated by allegations from the now-defunct News of the World.
The tabloid published an expose of Dallaglio in which it alleged he had made a number of claims about his involvement in illegal drugs.
He was quoted as saying to an undercover journalist posing as the representative of a shaving cream manufacturer: ‘I used to be a (teenage) drug dealer. I made big, big money from dealing in drugs.
‘Why do you think I know so much about drugs? I was surrounded by it. I used to drive from one end of London to the other with five or six ounces of it (cocaine).
‘That’s how I used to make money before I took up rugby.’
The newspaper also reported that Dallaglio boasted how he and two other players had taken the drug ecstasy ‘and then a couple of wraps of coke’ to celebrate winning the 1997 Lions series in South Africa.
Dallaglio – and the rest of English rugby – was horrified when the article appeared. He claimed that he had made up much of what he’d said to the journalist because he was ‘naïve and foolish’.
Lawrence Dallaglio is embraced by his then girlfriend Alice Corbett (now Alice Dallaglio) after winning the rugby World Cup Final in 2003
Lawrence Dallaglio and Will Greenwood hold the Webb Ellis Cup during the England Rugby World Cup team victory parade December 8, 2003 in London
Former Ireland rugby player Brian O’Driscoll and Lawrence Dallaglio commentating for TNT sports at the Harlequins v Northampton Saints match in April 2024
At a press conference following his resignation as captain Dallaglio, then 26, admitted he had experimented with drugs in his late teens and ‘for that I am not proud’.
But he told reporters he was now ‘completely against drugs’, adding: ‘I will always regret the effect that this has had on everyone.’
He said that while ‘I cannot deny that what was said in the interview is was what was reported’, no drugs had been taken on the Lions tour. He had lied to ‘impress’.
The Rugby Football Union eventually dropped drugs charges against him – much to his relief – after ‘new evidence’ emerged during an open hearing chaired by a high court judge.
Instead it imposed a fine of £15,000 for bringing the game into disrepute – on top of legal costs amounting to £10,000.
Dallaglio successfully put the scandal behind him and was ever-present in England’s historic 2003 World Cup triumph.
But, while Dallaglio was reaping the rewards of his rugby prowess on the pitch, his relationship with his girlfriend, then Alice Corbett, took a turn following accusations that she had been unfaithful to him.
Alice is said to have embarked on an affair with property developer Leon Butler, 32, after being introduced by one of Dallaglio’s friends. The couple temporarily split before eventually reconciling. They got married two years later.
Lawrence Dallaglio celebrates with his wife Alice, son Enzo and daughters Ella (left) and Josie after Wasps win the Guinness Premiership Final match in 2008
Prince Harry, Alice Dallaglio and Lawrence Dallaglio attend the reception of 8Rocks party from Dallaglio’s Foundation in aid of Cancer Research UK in 2010
Head coach, Warren Gatland and captain, Lawrence Dallaglio hold up the trophy after Wasps win the Zurich Premiership Final match in 2005
Dallaglio retired from rugby for good in 2008. He went on to father three children with Alice – daughters Ella and Josie and their son Enzo.
More than a decade into his retirement, Dallaglio found himself caught up in another sleazy scenario.
A court heard that the former England star spent £10,000 at a London brothel which offered high-class hookers and cocaine.
It was also claimed in court that he had used his own bank cards to make payments inside the venue in Holborn.
News of Dallaglio’s visit emerged in 2020 during a trial where a gang were accused of supplying prostitutes and Class A drugs, with the brothel having been raided and shut down by police a year previous.
During that visit, they were said to recover bank card receipts at the venue – at which point Dallaglio’s name emerged.
He was not arrested but he was interviewed under caution by police in the presence of a solicitor.
Dallaglio declined to make any comment on the matter, and no action was taken against him.
Lawrence Dallaglio and his then girlfriend Alice attend the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London in June 2005
Lawrence Dallaglio moves forward with teammate scrumhalf Andy Gomarsall during their pool match with Georgia in the 2003 Rugby World Cup
Boris Johnson poses with Lawrence Dallaglio and the Rugby World Cup in 2012
Despite his downfalls, Dallaglio, who spent all of his club career with Wasps, is regarded as one of England’s greatest ever players.
He was awarded an OBE in 2008, having already been given an MBE, while he won the Rugby 7s World Cup with England.
The 52-year-old also overcame tragedy in his personal life, with his sister Francesca among the victims of the tragic Marchioness disaster in 1989 in which 51 people died after the boat collided with another vessel.
Reflecting back upon the tragedy in 2021, Dallaglio admitted: ‘I had a very difficult time when I lost my sister on the Marchioness riverboat disaster. That experience is inextricably linked to my rugby career, without a shadow of a doubt.
‘I was sat around the table with my mother and my sister that night having dinner and I was invited to the party, and I was never one to turn down many parties at all, so for me to say no, it was very odd – I just wasn’t feeling great at that time.
‘My sister was heading off there with her boyfriend. The next thing I remember my mother woke me up about six, seven o’clock the following morning and said “your sister hasn’t come back from that party”.
‘I could hear the helicopters overhead and I immediately thought to myself she must be dead. She was very sensible, she was everything that I wasn’t at that age.
‘The fact that she hadn’t come home told you everything.
‘It was a horrific event, one of those things that blows your life apart and that of your parents. From that day on, life was never the same and still never has been the same.
Lawrence Dallaglio with his wife Alice receives as he receives his OBE at Windsor Castle
Lawrence Dallaglio speaks prior to the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Bristol Bears and Exeter Chiefs in 2022
Eileen Dallaglio holding a photo of her daughter Francesca, who died in the Marchioness tragedy in 1989, outside Central Hall in Westminster in 2000
‘The first thoughts I had were from my parents who were really suffering and having become a parent myself, the understanding of what that would do to you and the fact that you have to bury one of your own children is just horrific, it doesn’t bear thinking about.
‘I was 17 at the time and for a long time I was questioning why, what the purpose of all of this was, and I think slowly but surely you start to try and come to terms with it.’
A formal enquiry conducted in 2000 concluded: ‘The basic cause of the collision is clear. It was poor lookout on both vessels. Neither vessel saw the other in time to take action to avoid the collision.’
And, on the 35th anniversary of the tragedy last year, the rugby icon paid a beautiful tribute to his late sister.
‘This week marked 35 years since the Marchioness disaster took you,’ he posted on Instagram.
‘Mum fought for justice for you and the others who were taken, you would have been so proud (but also mortified of those jackets). She did it.
‘There is not a day that goes by where you don’t remind me to keep going. You’d have been so proud of me, but also given me a kick a few times too!
‘You were my ‘why’ Francesca, my driver, and most recently my reminder that we haven’t come this far to only come this far.
‘My thoughts and love are with all the other families and friends impacted the disaster.’
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The post From blowing £10,000 on brothel trip to drugs scandal that cost him the England captaincy: The controversies of rugby World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio first appeared on Rugby 247.
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Author : rugby-247
Publish date : 2025-02-12 21:35:15
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